KDAD
Contributor
Streamlining gear monkey style will go a long way to minimize the amount that has to be hauled up there. Warmer water temps in summer help with less exposure protection less weight etc. Keep us posted on vis and temp.
Sunfish Pond - dont let a boy do a man's job
- Thread starter Basking Ridge Diver
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This is going to kill Carl, but maybe I'll bring a BT and my spool of Dyneema line to just get a temp somewhere off center. The true depth of that glacial pond is still unknown (unreported). I won't be a spoiler, we do it as a team. I asked at Conshohocken REI today and got nothing but great interest.
Inquiring minds want to know...
Inquiring minds want to know...
OP
Basking Ridge Diver
Contributor
And the dream lives on... lol 
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Sunfish Pond report. Sunday July 03, 2016.
It is getting real. I recently got all the basic gear to do this survey properly, was dying to get at it. Called REI on Saturday and told them I was bringing everything up to be fitted to a backpack. No prob! When your get here ask for xxx. Great fun, got the first relatively inexpensive backpack that I ever loved. Dude custom fitted strap to me and my load. Kudos, guys! Somebody will ask, it is a Deuter. Act Lite G5+10. Totally German. Made in Viet Nam. (my dear friend My Linh likes that part a lot)
Filled the backpack with a serious packraft, paddles, a Type III Adult XL PFD (flotation vest), lunch, four bottles of water, my electronics, line and heavy plumb bob, and all the other neat campy necessities. 22 Pounds fully loaded! This could work! I didn’t even need to deploy the expandable skirt that is there for lots and lots of stuff.
Off to the pond, get to the trailhead. HUGE Problem!!! All parking closed, park is at capacity. Every blessed trailhead had a ranger and cones, “keep moving”. Drove under I-80 to where a bunch of rangers were talking. Nearest parking is eight miles away on the PA side. OMG. One particularly nice ranger comes over and says to try the “three minute light” before you give up. Oh! That is how BRD goes… Funky two-lane road that comes to an odd traffic light. The lights control the single lane portion of this road. Neat little road, never thought that you could cement a road to the side of a cliff… I get there, parked full up. Oh, yeah. Fourth of July weekend. But wait! Somebody pulls out!!! Bless you whoever you are!!!
Don’t know exactly where I am but at least I’m in the right state! Call Basking Ridge Diver. Made his day, I was right across the street from where I wanted to be. :sigh: Let’s do this!
I see his point with respect to favoring this particular trail, get the elevation over with while you are fresh. Seems to be a shorter access too. You also hit the Appalachian trail fairly soon on this access. Back in familiar territory. Lovely walk, feeling good. Get to the pond, never saw so many people there, probably eight groups of four or five people. The trail past the pond is fairly rocky and has a lot of brush blocking water access. Was eyeing a really nice launch point but filled with people. Lovely woman waves at me and says that they are getting ready to leave if I wanted to camp here. No, but this is one of the few really good spots for setting up and launching a boat. Would you mind? “No! We would love watching!” Really cool people. We swap stories while I blow up a raft. They have to go, getting into late afternoon and this is a new moon. If you goof up you walk back in total darkness. Crap, didn’t even think to check…
Game on!
Tough ass little raft. Got into it on the submerged rocks and dragged it free, try that with a vinyl inflatable. Not even a wimper and we are off.
Wow! Immediately looks deep. I brought a roll of Dyneema line and a plumb bob. Drops like a rock to almost nineteen feet! Wow, just offshore! Shelf??? Maybe there is something to this… Buzzkill. Take a reading in the middle, around 26 feet. Burst my bubble, odd, that’s nowhere near 600’.
Today was not the beginning of the actual survey, it was intended to be a “lessons learned” trip. And indeed there were a multitude of lessons to be learned.
Lessons learned;
A packraft floats like a leaf on the water, high profile and very stable. Problem: wind blows you wherever it wishes. Simultaneously finding a grid point by watching the coordinates change, holding position, and measuring depth is just no fun. Need to change this. Looking into entering all grid points into GPS via Garmin’s Basecamp software. Then it becomes more like geocaching. I’ll try that next time and maybe with a fisherman’s bottom finder.
The inflatable seat and backrest make the raft stupidly comfortable. Couldn’t help scooching down and getting comfy. No! that long drift had nothing to do with me dozing off. Ermm. Back to it. Not much room to work, though. See pic with my size twelve pointing at the tree on the promontory that can be seen from space (Google Earth). Pile of wet line in Ballantine loops in my lap. I learned that from a brief stint with the Kalmar Nyckel. Line runs clean and won’t ever tangle.
I really need to come up with a workspace for this raft. Dropping everything back into the backpack on each use means that you just have to search for everything every time you need it (while you are drifting).
Everything gets wet. Deal with it. Yes, you can paddle so carefully that the paddle rings block the water, but not in wind. Going to a grease pencil based something and just accept it. Water is good.
Depth sounding. Works great, but not while the wind is blowing you around. The bottom that I sounded is covered by a thick mat of vegetation. Pulled a lot of it up. Not going to risk a dive computer on that, especially while being dragged by the wind. Looking at fish finders/bottom finders right now. Suggestions anybody?
Even more so dying to properly profile this pond. Why a ledge on either side? Isn’t this supposed to be a glacial scour? I would have expected a gradual bowl shape. What about the other end? I’m guessing deeper. This gets interesting from a geological perspective.
Viz is OK, but not great, judging by my depth sounding line. 10-15’ Maybe?
Plan:
Do a decent surface survey, maybe drop GoPro’s at the interesting points, and then dive the interesting stuff with our precious air supplies.
It continues…
It is getting real. I recently got all the basic gear to do this survey properly, was dying to get at it. Called REI on Saturday and told them I was bringing everything up to be fitted to a backpack. No prob! When your get here ask for xxx. Great fun, got the first relatively inexpensive backpack that I ever loved. Dude custom fitted strap to me and my load. Kudos, guys! Somebody will ask, it is a Deuter. Act Lite G5+10. Totally German. Made in Viet Nam. (my dear friend My Linh likes that part a lot)
Filled the backpack with a serious packraft, paddles, a Type III Adult XL PFD (flotation vest), lunch, four bottles of water, my electronics, line and heavy plumb bob, and all the other neat campy necessities. 22 Pounds fully loaded! This could work! I didn’t even need to deploy the expandable skirt that is there for lots and lots of stuff.
Off to the pond, get to the trailhead. HUGE Problem!!! All parking closed, park is at capacity. Every blessed trailhead had a ranger and cones, “keep moving”. Drove under I-80 to where a bunch of rangers were talking. Nearest parking is eight miles away on the PA side. OMG. One particularly nice ranger comes over and says to try the “three minute light” before you give up. Oh! That is how BRD goes… Funky two-lane road that comes to an odd traffic light. The lights control the single lane portion of this road. Neat little road, never thought that you could cement a road to the side of a cliff… I get there, parked full up. Oh, yeah. Fourth of July weekend. But wait! Somebody pulls out!!! Bless you whoever you are!!!
Don’t know exactly where I am but at least I’m in the right state! Call Basking Ridge Diver. Made his day, I was right across the street from where I wanted to be. :sigh: Let’s do this!
I see his point with respect to favoring this particular trail, get the elevation over with while you are fresh. Seems to be a shorter access too. You also hit the Appalachian trail fairly soon on this access. Back in familiar territory. Lovely walk, feeling good. Get to the pond, never saw so many people there, probably eight groups of four or five people. The trail past the pond is fairly rocky and has a lot of brush blocking water access. Was eyeing a really nice launch point but filled with people. Lovely woman waves at me and says that they are getting ready to leave if I wanted to camp here. No, but this is one of the few really good spots for setting up and launching a boat. Would you mind? “No! We would love watching!” Really cool people. We swap stories while I blow up a raft. They have to go, getting into late afternoon and this is a new moon. If you goof up you walk back in total darkness. Crap, didn’t even think to check…
Game on!
Tough ass little raft. Got into it on the submerged rocks and dragged it free, try that with a vinyl inflatable. Not even a wimper and we are off.
Wow! Immediately looks deep. I brought a roll of Dyneema line and a plumb bob. Drops like a rock to almost nineteen feet! Wow, just offshore! Shelf??? Maybe there is something to this… Buzzkill. Take a reading in the middle, around 26 feet. Burst my bubble, odd, that’s nowhere near 600’.
Today was not the beginning of the actual survey, it was intended to be a “lessons learned” trip. And indeed there were a multitude of lessons to be learned.
Lessons learned;
A packraft floats like a leaf on the water, high profile and very stable. Problem: wind blows you wherever it wishes. Simultaneously finding a grid point by watching the coordinates change, holding position, and measuring depth is just no fun. Need to change this. Looking into entering all grid points into GPS via Garmin’s Basecamp software. Then it becomes more like geocaching. I’ll try that next time and maybe with a fisherman’s bottom finder.
The inflatable seat and backrest make the raft stupidly comfortable. Couldn’t help scooching down and getting comfy. No! that long drift had nothing to do with me dozing off. Ermm. Back to it. Not much room to work, though. See pic with my size twelve pointing at the tree on the promontory that can be seen from space (Google Earth). Pile of wet line in Ballantine loops in my lap. I learned that from a brief stint with the Kalmar Nyckel. Line runs clean and won’t ever tangle.
I really need to come up with a workspace for this raft. Dropping everything back into the backpack on each use means that you just have to search for everything every time you need it (while you are drifting).
Everything gets wet. Deal with it. Yes, you can paddle so carefully that the paddle rings block the water, but not in wind. Going to a grease pencil based something and just accept it. Water is good.
Depth sounding. Works great, but not while the wind is blowing you around. The bottom that I sounded is covered by a thick mat of vegetation. Pulled a lot of it up. Not going to risk a dive computer on that, especially while being dragged by the wind. Looking at fish finders/bottom finders right now. Suggestions anybody?
Even more so dying to properly profile this pond. Why a ledge on either side? Isn’t this supposed to be a glacial scour? I would have expected a gradual bowl shape. What about the other end? I’m guessing deeper. This gets interesting from a geological perspective.
Viz is OK, but not great, judging by my depth sounding line. 10-15’ Maybe?
Plan:
Do a decent surface survey, maybe drop GoPro’s at the interesting points, and then dive the interesting stuff with our precious air supplies.
It continues…
Attachments
How did u inflate the raft? Small foot pump?
OP
Basking Ridge Diver
Contributor
Lol - I totally forgot about that... good pickup - is this only for surveying or are you going to need this setup when we do the dive too?
How about knots in the rope / string like - 1 knot at 10 feet - 2 at 20 feet - 3 at 30 feet and so on... That way you know the depth but not the temp - unless and I dont want to hang up a good working PDC but maybe tie it off at the 20 foot mark and that should keep it clear of snags? Unless the entire rope gets snagged then it is not my idea...
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Lots of patience. The attached valve is meant for oral inflation, quite honestly it is more of a pain to get all the air back out. I packed the absolute minimum necessary and used everything but my little flashlight. The total pack was 22 pounds, could have taken about five more. Anything past that would have been abuse.
Only planned it for the survey, but having a rescue boat up there... I suppose that depends on how extensive our expeditionary force turns out to be. Boat and paddle are only about nine pounds.
That too was a lesson learned. tied a loose knot for the first two fathoms, Dyneema is rather stiff and the knots grab loops and mess up the drop.
I think that the answer is to get an electronic fish/bottom finder. Along with that, put one of my many old VR3's onto the dropline and teach it to bounce dive for bottom temps, won't need a temp at every grid point.I dont want to hang up a good working PDC but maybe tie it off at the 20 foot mark and that should keep it clear of snags? Unless the entire rope gets snagged then it is not my idea...
I have to streamline data collection. That little pond gets awfully big when you are sitting in the middle of it.
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Looking for suggestions for a good depth finder.
I did a fairly extensive search of available bottom finders (fish finders) for kayaks and small boats. I'm passing on any GPS capability as I spent the big bucks on a serious stand-alone GPS unit that has proven itself admirably. (Garmin GPSmap64st) I would like to be just as happy with a cheap depth finder.
I'm leaning towards this: Amazon.com: Humminbird 409670-1 PiranhaMax 197C Color Fish Finder (Grey): HUMMINBIRD: Cell Phones & Accessories
Can anybody suggest better (for just watching the bottom profile) for under $200 US ?
I did a fairly extensive search of available bottom finders (fish finders) for kayaks and small boats. I'm passing on any GPS capability as I spent the big bucks on a serious stand-alone GPS unit that has proven itself admirably. (Garmin GPSmap64st) I would like to be just as happy with a cheap depth finder.
I'm leaning towards this: Amazon.com: Humminbird 409670-1 PiranhaMax 197C Color Fish Finder (Grey): HUMMINBIRD: Cell Phones & Accessories
Can anybody suggest better (for just watching the bottom profile) for under $200 US ?
KDAD
Contributor
I think the unit you found is the way to go. This one is solely a depth gauge but it does use a third of the power of the color display unit. Price is about the same so the only gain is that a smaller battery can be used.
Humminbird HDR 650 Digital Depth Gauge - Walmart.com
The PiranhaMax seems to be a nice unit and it's display would be nice for visualizing the bottom profile. Kind of depends on available weight capacity. With five pounds to spare you could probably get a decent size battery pack in there. It is replacing the plumb Bob so there is a few ounces right there.
Humminbird HDR 650 Digital Depth Gauge - Walmart.com
The PiranhaMax seems to be a nice unit and it's display would be nice for visualizing the bottom profile. Kind of depends on available weight capacity. With five pounds to spare you could probably get a decent size battery pack in there. It is replacing the plumb Bob so there is a few ounces right there.
OP
Basking Ridge Diver
Contributor
Elite-3x
$99 - looks good to me - no GPS
But - if you plan to resell - I would think GPS would be an option not for you but for the next buyer to get some money back...
What I can not tell is - is all of the necessary parts included in my choice of a depth finder - need to keep looking....
I reread yours and it has it all...
$99 - looks good to me - no GPS
But - if you plan to resell - I would think GPS would be an option not for you but for the next buyer to get some money back...
What I can not tell is - is all of the necessary parts included in my choice of a depth finder - need to keep looking....
I reread yours and it has it all...
Last edited:
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